Editorial
Arizona Daily Wildcat
October 3, 1997

Revealing statistics

When you read about a New Hampshire man dying in a car accident because he wasn't wearing a seatbelt, you shake your head and turn the page.

When your neighbor dies for the same reason, you fasten your seatbelt.

It's human nature.

We are influenced more about what's happening in our own back yards than we are about what's happening in the next town or the next state.

That's why we need to know what's going on in our back yards.

In the past two weeks, local police have investigated two alleged rapes involving University of Arizona students. That is information that should matter to UA students.

Students should know when a rape or assault is reported at the UA. Students should know if two rapes, or 20 rapes have taken place on campus this year.

The public must be provided with local statistics to understand the magnitude of a safety problem.

Two rapes, no matter where you are, is too many. Unfortunately though, that number may be higher and UA students have no way of knowing.

Many rapes, especially acquaintance rapes, go unreported to police. At universities, students often feel more comfortable reporting these incidents to the dean of students than to police.

When the dean of students begins investigating a crime - or any code of conduct violation - all information relating to the investigation becomes confidential.

The UA dean of students office won't even verify that it is investigating a crime. Any crime.

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) protects educational records and prohibits universities from giving out any information included on a student's educational record.

At the UA, when a student reports a rape to the dean of students, that information is included in educational records. That information becomes confidential.

That is wrong.

FERPA was designed to protect academic records, not criminal records.

The dean of students office is privy to information regarding campus crimes, some of which are never reported to campus police. This includes information about rapes, sexual assaults, hate crimes and alcohol violations in the residence halls and Greek system.

But even the most general information about campus crime becomes confidential under the university's broad interpretation of FERPA.

Withholding general information about campus crimes seems to violate the public's right to know what is happening at a state funded institution.

The public doesn't need to know names, grade point averages, vital statistics or test scores. That is information that should be protected by FERPA.

But when deans (state employees) are investigating a violent crime that involves students of the state institution, the public has the right to know. They should be required to follow due process in their investigation, and disclose details about their investigation to the public.

This information helps members of the campus community make informed decisions about their personal safety.

Statistics about campus crime are incomplete without information about the nature and frequency of crimes investigated by the dean of students.

National statistics let us know about a problem.

Local statistics force us to act.